CW50 2nd Edition - No 08

Just 4 points clear of the greatest cricketer from New Zealand we have the greatest cricketer from Sri Lanka

Number 08 Muttiah Muralitharan

Highest Ranking 3
Total Points 795
Number of Votes Received 49/57
Rank in 1st Edition 12

What they said of him

He has performed in all types of wickets and terrorised batsmen across the world. No way any other bowler in the globe could surpass his feat (Erapalli Prasanna, the former Indian spin giant on Murali)

I am never going to go around looking for another Murali. Because you are never going to find any. (Kumar Sangakkara on the retirement of Murali)

The Don Bradman of Bowling (Glowing tribute from former Australian captain Steve Waugh)

Muttiah Muralitharan

Perhaps no cricketer since Douglas Jardine has polarised opinion quite like Muttiah Muralitharan. For the believers, he's among the greatest to ever spin a ball. For the doubters, he's a charlatan undeserving of the game's greatest records, responsible for changes in the laws that they think have legitimised throwing. What was undeniable was his ability to turn the ball sharply on just about any surface, and bowl the sort of marathon spells that would have seen a lesser man retire after five seasons rather than 18. Whether Sri Lanka played at home, on pitches where he was often unplayable, or overseas, Murali was the go-to man for half a dozen captains. He seldom disappointed. Backed to the hilt by Arjuna Ranatunga, he blossomed in the late 1990s, and there was a period when the opposition routinely budgeted for 20 Murali wickets or more in a three-Test series. As the years passed, his shyness gave way to a quiet confidence and wry sense of humour, and he won admirers around the world for the energy, time and money that he invested in reconstruction after a tsunami had devastated the Sri Lankan coast in 2004. Often the only Tamil in the side in a time of ethnic conflict, he became as powerful a unifying force as any in the country. That he was such a hero with ball in hand was only part of the story. After his retirement the Lankan dressing room will miss him for sure but more than them the cricket lovers will miss that angular run up the big eyes as they looked over his front shoulder at the spot where he wanted to land the ball and the delight when he snared his man. Sri Lankan and world cricket will probably not see the likes of him again. The man with the most number of test match wickets in history richly deserves a place in the pantheon of cricketing greats as the greatest off spinner of all time and he takes his place at number 8 in CW’s top 50 cricketers of all time.

Last edited by smalishah84; 10-04-2012 at 10:38 AM.

And smalishah's avatar is the most classy one by far Jan certainly echoes the sentiments of CW

Yeah we don't crap in the first world; most of us would actually have no idea what that was emanating from Ajmal's backside. Why isn't it roses and rainbows like what happens here? PEWS's retort to Ganeshran on Daemon's picture depicting Ajmal's excreta

Dont think hes comparing them as cricketers, more on the fact that one group of people will consider them great, while another considers them cheats or worse...

My guess about Murali being No.8 was correct then
I had him at No.13 a few places above Warne probably screwed up there i think... in hindsight both should have been higher in my list, and one of them definitely deserves a top 10 position. No.8 sounds about right for arguably the greatest spinner ever